Navajo Blanket Cylinder

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Currently not on view

Navajo Blanket Cylinder

1975

Dale Chihuly (American, born 1941)

This cylinder is part of Dale Chihuly’s Navajo Blanket Cylinder series, created in response to the exhibition Navajo Blankets 1800–1850 that the artist saw in 1975 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Blankets and other woven forms have stimulated Chihuly artistically since he was introduced to weaving in 1964–66 at the University of Washington. An assignment to work at the loom with a non-fiber based material gave him his first opportunity to handle glass and experiment with its melting and fusing properties.

The drawing on glass technique seen on this piece—achieved by placing glass threads onto the surface of the hot cylinder—reflects Chihuly’s experience with the loom and its imposing grid of warp and weft. Chihuly began drawing on glass in 1974—in collaboration with American artists Kate Elliot (born 1950) and Flora Mace (born 1949)—and here uses the cylinder format as a neutral backdrop for his blanket designs.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Navajo Blanket Cylinder

Date:

1975

Artist:

Dale Chihuly (American, born 1941)

Medium:

Glass

Dimensions:

9 15/16 x 6 1/8 inches (25.2 x 15.6 cm)

Classification:

Sculpture

Credit Line:

Gift of Mrs. Robert L. McNeil, Jr., 1998

Accession Number:

1998-83-7

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view

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